Cases have long been used to hold devices and attach them people and things. Prior to the prevalence of cellular telephones, cases were commonly used to hold devices such as knives, flashlights, multi-tools and the like. Such cases typically take the form of a leather pouch having a main body with a storage compartment sized and shaped specifically for the device to be held and had a permanent fixed sized belt loop attached to the outside of the main body that allowed a user to attach the case to a person's belt. Some such cases often also include a top flap that folds over the open top of the storage compartment and is secured once the device is placed in the case in order to prevent the device from accidentally falling out of the case.
Traditional cases work well when they were only used to carry a specific device and to only attach the device to a person's belt. However, they are not useful for carrying different devices, which means that different cases are needed for each different device. Further, these cases are only adaptable for attachment to a belt and cannot be easily attached to a backpack, purse, tool pouch, or another device, such as a bicycle. In addition, they were not adapted to be attached in any position other than perpendicular to the user's belt.
The advent of the prevalence of cellular telephones in recent years has spurred advancements in the art of carrying cases. Some cellular phone cases take the form of the traditional cases described above. However, others are adapted to hold phones of different sizes and many include rotatable clips that allow them to be attached to items other than belts. Unfortunately, the size variability is generally limited to variability of a single dimension, typically width. Further, the variability results in unwanted bulkiness and generally results in the outside of the phone being unprotected and increases the chance that the phone will unintentionally dislodge from the case. Finally, although these cases may be attached to more items than belts, their applicability is still substantially limited and the cases are relatively expensive.
Therefore, there is a need for a carrying case that is adapted to carry devices of different sizes and whose variability is not limited to a single dimension, that is easily adapted for attachment to a variety of items, that allows a user to position the case in a variety of positions without substantial risk of the device being unintentionally dislodged, that is not overly bulky, that protects substantially all surfaces of the device, and that is relatively inexpensive.